A state powered by the Sun: The Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Initiative

A grassroots campaign, the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Initiative is working to enact legislation to ensure that 50 percent of Maryland’s electricity comes from renewable sources by 2030. Check out the video below featuring our own Bishop Eugene Sutton.

The campaign is building a growing coalition of community, labor, faith, and business groups that will create the support needed to pass this legislation in the 2018 Maryland General Assembly.

This goal of the campaign is to advance legislation that will accomplish four things:

Expand renewable energy in Maryland to 50 percent by 2030.

Fund clean energy businesses owned by women and people of color to ensure that this growing economy is inclusive.

Create solar job training programs for Maryland residents by funding clean energy workforce development to establish career pathways for more Maryland workers to fill this growing industry.

Phase out incentives for trash incineration in the Renewable Portfolio Standard to move Maryland closer toward being a state powered by the sun.

The So-What for Maryland:

Maryland is one of the most vulnerable states in the nation to the effects of sea-level rise and climate change. With more than 3,000 miles of coastline and 265,000 acres that are less than five feet above sea level, the effects of climate change could be dramatic in Maryland.

Maryland generates more than half of its electricity from fossil fuel sources. Fossil fuels (coal, natural gas, and oil) produce most of our electricity and they produce the vast majority of carbon emissions by releasing toxic chemicals that pollute our air and water. Renewable energy generates electricity from sustainable sources like wind, solar and geothermal power with little or no pollution.

The good news is that the Maryland’s geography lends itself easily to renewable energy industries.

Start Today and Make a Difference!

Support the campaign – Signing the Pledge: Over 600 organizations in Maryland have endorsed the Maryland Clean Energy Jobs Initiative to date, including the Episcopal Diocese of Maryland, other faith organizations and congregations. If your parish would like to sign, you can get a copy of the resolution here

It doesn’t matter what the federal government does. In the end, it’s people making individual decisions (that make a difference): “I want to reduce my energy costs. I want to be more environmentally friendly. I want to spend my money on something else because I want my kids to breath cleaner air, or I want to drink purer water…”MICHAEL BLOOMBERG